Cassava starch use:

Cassava starch is obtained from the roots of the cassava plant, which is found in equatorial regions between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. The name cassava is generally applied to the roots of the plant, whereas cassava is the name given to starch and other processed products. The large central pith of the cassava roots is the starch-reserve flesh and can range in starch content from as low as 15% to as high as 33%. The machinery of cassava starch production and use is highly varied. There are well-equipped factories that utilize local, custom-built devices for processing roots, product streams, by-products and effluent. Cassava starch is differentiated from other starches by its low level of residual materials, lower amylose content than for other amylose-containing starches, and high molecular weights of amylose and amylopectin. Starch modifications can be classified as physical modifications, chemical modifications, and genetic modifications. The greatest diversity of use of cassava starch is in the food industry. As an ingredient in foods, native and modified cassava starch has been widely utilized. Other food applications generally make use of cassava starch as a thickener and stabilizer, with special emphasis on its lack of flavor contribution to food systems, allowing full and immediate detection of the flavor of the food itself. Cassava starch consumption in industrial applications has been more related to economics than to any unique functionality. Paper manufacturing industry and textile industry are significant users of starch. So it is necessary to know about cassava starch production and use.

It will take cassava starch production and use in Nigeria as an example. There is high demand for cassava starch in Nigeria. It is widely used in industries such as: textile, pharmaceuticals, oil drilling, paper and packaging, gum and adhesives, chemical and household products manufacturing, battery, drinks and beverages, foods and so on. The desire to conserve foreign exchange and reduce import dependency is the driving force for demand for cassava starch especially as regards its partial substitution for corn starch in user industries. The demand for cassava starch in Nigeria is in excess of 350,000 tons per annum. The current domestic production capacity to meet the estimated demand for cassava starch is less than 20 per cent.